English
Turning Off an Inter Partes Patent Reexamination
Can an Ongoing Patent Reexamination be Stopped?
With most patent reexaminations now being conducted concurrent to a district court or ITC proceeding, a common question of such plaintiffs is “what becomes of the patent reexamination once the litigation settles?”
In the case of ex parte patent reexamination, the answer is simple, the reexamination continues unaffected. On the other hand, if the pending reexamination is an inter partes patent reexamination, the answer will depend on the nature of the settlement.
In other words, inter partes patent reexamination is subject to statutory estoppel provisions not applicable to ex parte patent reexamination. Depending upon the manner in which the case settles, and whether or not the case is before the ITC, a carefully worded consent judgment can be used to trigger 35 USC § 317 (b), effectively forcing the USPTO to vacate the proceeding by operation of estoppel. Read the rest of this entry »
